The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 32 - August 8, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................14
Classifieds............................4
Community Briefs...............3
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................5
Food.......................................5
Legals............................ 12,13
Pets......................................14
Real Estate.....................7-10
Sports.............................. 6,11
Weekend
Forecast
A Winner and a Movie for Zoey
During last Saturday’s Movie in the Park event, Zoey Pittman (third from left) won the Barbie Sweetville Castle and poses with her friends Presley, Avery and Charlee. See more photos from Movie in the
Park on page 2 and 15. Photo: Gregg McMullin.
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
74˚/64˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
73˚/65˚
Sunday
Sunny
75˚/65˚
Council Debates Richmond Lot
Funding, Okays Media Campus
By Brian Simon
Tuesday night’s El Segundo City Council
meeting featured an update from Recreation
and Parks Director Meredith Petit on the Richmond
Street Field Improvement Project that
resulted in some philosophical differences on
the dais. For the 2018/19 budget, the Council
initially allocated $350,000 for this project and
then added another $120,000 to expand the
scope of work to include a shared parking lot
expense with landowner El Segundo Unified
School District (ESUSD). The lot provides
about 30 new spaces as part of a separate
District project to demolish and reconstruct
a portion of the adjacent Richmond Street
Elementary School campus that encompasses
The Learning Connection (TLC) before- and
after-school program.
The original project included accessible
pathways to and around the field, new dugout
fencing, a new backstop, new spectator
bleachers and public restroom facilities. City
and District staff agreed the latter would
manage the project. But with the parking
lot component now in the mix and after
further discussing long-term needs/priorities,
the City/Schools Affairs Committee felt the
condition of the turf is the top priority rather
than the infield, fencing, pathways, bleachers
or restrooms. The committee (which includes
Mayor Drew Boyles and Councilmember
Scot Nicol) recommended holding off on
the field improvements and eliminating the
restroom facilities. Said restrooms will be
reevaluated during The Plunge renovation to
consider both external and internal access.
The committee also agreed on a costsharing
methodology, with the City pegged
to pay 70 percent and ESUSD 30 percent.
The proposed breakdown came after a review
determined that City-related activities make
up 70 percent of the site use. The City’s
adjusted project cost revised to $310,000,
leaving $160,000 in remaining funds to
use for future turf-related renovations or be
directed to another project.
While acknowledging that he “has no issue
with” the project itself, Councilmember Don
Brann did not agree that the City should pay
for any of it since ESUSD owns the property
and is flush with cash from a recently passed
school bond that calls for monies to go towards
facility and site improvements. “They’re
[ESUSD] sitting on $100 million,” he said.
“We don’t have that kind of money here.”
In response, Boyles noted that the City
utilizes the fields and public lot the most.
“Regardless of who has money, it’s who’s
using the resource,” he said. Nicol pointed to
the impacts on residential quality of life and
that it made logical sense to look at usage
time in establishing the cost parameters. He
added that the District could theoretically
“build the parking lot without our help” and
then choose to close it up so that the rest of
the community would have no access.
The Council did not conduct a vote on
the item on Tuesday, but will revisit the
matter in two weeks after City Attorney
Mark Hensley confers on additional points
with the District and staff returns with some
final details. Later during public communications,
School Board member Emilee Layne
expressed her disappointment with some of
the comments from the dais though did not
mention Brann by name. She explained that
the District made an earlier decision to fund
the Richmond project “in a different manner
before the bond was passed.” She likened the
City’s cost contribution to ESUSD’s financial
commitment towards the new aquatics
facility, which the District does not own or
manage but nonetheless uses. “I really think
this is a win for the public,” Layne said of
the project intended to provide much-needed
parking opportunities to local field users.
In a continued public hearing from July
16, the Council approved general plan and
zoning changes, a 10-year development agreement
and environmental impact report (EIR)
certification with a statement of overriding
considerations for the Beach Cities Media
Campus project at 2021 Rosecrans Ave. The
project, a partnership between Continental
Development Corporation (CDC) and Mar
Ventures (Rosecrans-Sepulveda Partners
4, LLC), entails a 313,000-foot maximum
development with a floor area ratio (FAR)
See City Council, page 10